Bulgarian Households Spend Most on Food, Housing Costs

Sofia, December 6 (BTA) - The biggest expenditures of Bulgarian households in 2017 were food and housing costs, show Eurostat data on household expenditure by purpose in the EU in 2017.

The highest share of household expenditure for communication services was observed in Bulgaria (4.8 per cent of total expenditure), while Luxembourg (1.4 per cent) had the lowest share, the EU statistics show.

Food accounted for around 19 per cent of the Bulgarian households' total expenditure last year. Housing costs (rental, maintenance, repair, utility bills) made up 19.7 per cent, compared to an EU average of 24 per cent, the EU statistics show. EU households have spent an average of 11 per cent of their total expenditures for food, Eurostat says. Romania has the highest share (26.4 per cent), while the UK had the lowest at 7.2 per cent

Households across the EU have spent close to 2,000 billion euro, or roughly a quarter of all EU expenditure (13 per cent of EU GDP), for housing costs, Eurostat reports. Finland and Denmark had the highest share of household expenditure for housing (28.8 per cent and 28.7 per cent respectively of total expenditure), while the lowest share was observed in Malta (10.1 per cent).

According to the national statistics, Bulgarian households had spent an average of 3,500 leva on food last year, which accounts for roughly 30 per cent of a households' total annual expenditure of 11,860 leva.

Home maintenance costs, including water, electricity, heating, etc. added up to 1,770 leva in 2017, or around 15 per cent, making it the second biggest expenditure of Bulgarian households after food.

According to NSI data, Bulgarian households' main income comes from wages - 54 per cent, followed by pensions, child benefits and forms of social welfare - around 30 per cent. Self-employment accounted for roughly 6.7 per cent of Bulgarian households' incomes. LI/MY